UFC 153 Free Fight: Minotauro Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia

Leading up to the enormous UFC 153 Pay-Per-View in Brazil, the UFC loves to give away free fights from top stars who are on the card. Today, we focus on Minotauro Nogueira.

Minotauro Nogueira is a legend of mixed martial arts. With the PRIDE organization, he was the first man to win the heavyweight championship, and he also was a finalist in the 2004 heavyweight Grand Prix.

With incredible submission skills, Nogueira was able to defeat the cream of the crop, including Mirko Cro Cop, Heath Herring, Dan Henderson, Bob Sapp, SemmySchilt and more. In addition, he would win decisions against top names like Fabricio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov and Ricco Rodriguez. The only man he had faced and not defeated was none other than FedorEmelianenko.

When the UFC purchased PRIDE, Nogueira was a top star who was thrust into a bout for the interim UFC heavyweight championship in his second fight with the organization. The man standing across the cage from him was former-champion Tim Sylvia, who stands 6'8" and boasts an incredible reach.

With Sylvia being submitted only twice in his 27 fights prior, would Nogueira be able to use the strongest tool in his game and become the only man in history to win championship gold for both the UFC and PRIDE organizations?